196
THE HESSIANS.
themselves gardens and poultry yards. The officers
bought good riding horses. In one settlement a small
theatre was erected by the English soldiers, and satirical
pieces were played, in which the captives made fun
of their captors, until it was found necessary to forbid
the American militia forming part of the audience.[1]
General von Riedesel returned to New York on parole
in the autumn of 1779, and was shortly afterwards
exchanged. His health had suffered much from exposure,
low spirits, and a slight sunstroke received in
Virginia. After he was exchanged he returned to Canada,
where he remained in the service of the King of
England until the end of the war, but he never again
met the Americans in the field.
- ↑ About thirty English miles from Staunton (Schlözer's “Briefwechsel,” vol. v. p. 404-408). In May, 1780, there were still one thousand five hundred and three German “conventioners” in Virginia (Sparks's “Correspondence,” vol. iii. p. 143).
